Hawaiian Textiles

Alfred Shaheen and Robert Sato were the most creative and prolific Hawaiian textile designers and producers in the 20th century. Shaheen, born in 1922 in New Jersey, moved with his parents to Oahu in the late 30's. After the war he began working in the family business. In 1948 he launched his own company making Aloha Wear with textiles imported from the mainland. But very soon he started printing, dying and finishing his own fabric. By 1952 he was printing more than 60,000 yards of fabric per month under the name Surf'n Sand Hand Prints.